Stray Arrow

"I'll build you thousands of empires and mansions, adore you with precious pieces of jewelry, you will be the only known queen of this ruthless man," Azrael Thorn Execroz whispered words that marked Andromeda's heart. His minty breath lingers in her senses, particularly in her nose. She wanted to be consumed by the fire of his heart, deep until they can no longer grasp for air. His shoulder shuddered in the darkness, while his body remains to cage the woman who captivated his iron heart. "Azrael..." she said softly with her heart beating erratically. "I...I don't desire your wealth nor your heart," she replied, slightly shivering. She was lying to the young man but mostly to herself. "Then what do you want?" he replied with his eyes beginning to shine as the tears warn to fall. He is breaking. "Let me leave," Andromeda spoke, each word like an arrow piercing through his heart. Sliding her right arm to his chest, she tiptoed momentarily to whisper what ended them. "Free me." And with that, the mighty and dignified Azrael Execroz felt his world crumble into small shards of glass. She tamed him. She was his escape. His solace. And now, she's gone.

"You like what I do to you, darling? As much as you don't want it, your eyes show desire." Noah wakes up to a naked man in his bed. Last night, this naked man was a stray he picked up off the rain-soaked streets of Chicago's South Side. Noah doesn't know what he's brought into his life, but as the stranger begins to unravel showing his dark, mysterious side, he finds himself in a love that's forbidden. Dominic Voss, a cold mafia boss who loses his memories after a brutal hit from rival gangs, finds himself in the gritty world of strip clubs and survival. Hunted down by his enemies, Dominic creates an illusion of happiness with Noah, even when he has sixty days left before his amnesia leads to permanent memory loss and his past catches up. Their love is forbidden. A mafia boss. A stripper. It's war. Dominic isn't willing to let go, but if his rivals get to him first, he won't even remember Noah loved him at all.

Just because my wolf mom scratched Ava Shaw's favorite dress, Noah Potter called a butcher. He punished her seriously. I found her dying body and screamed at him. "I told you before—I was raised by wolves. What you did to her is no different from killing my mother!" Noah stayed cold. He covered Ava's eyes and stared at me. "You are just a stray kid my stepmom picked up. Stop trying to fool me." My wolf mom was still bleeding as she dragged herself toward me. I crawled to her and held her tight. "I stayed here to repay Noah's family for helping the wolf pack. You chased me for miles because you could not let me go. I never thought I would end up hurting you instead." That night, I held my wolf mom and knelt in front of Aunt Wendy's memorial. "Aunt Wendy, the Potters' Zoo are everywhere now. They do not need my gift anymore. I should leave."

"I need an Alpha female, not a runt." With those cold words, Alpha Torin broke the mate bond and shattered Lyra’s heart. He expected her to break, to fade into the shadows of the pack. He was wrong. The pain of his rejection didn't destroy her—it unlocked something ancient. Lyra is no longer the weakling of the Silver Fang Pack. She is the Violet Wolf, a creature of celestial fury capable of leveling armies. Now, the tables have turned. Torin realizes his fatal mistake and will burn down the world to get her back. But when a brutal war leaves Lyra with no memory of his betrayal, Torin makes a dangerous choice: he lies. He claims her as his loving mate, stealing moments of stolen bliss and carnal passion while hiding the jagged scar of the silver arrow that proves his treachery. But the truth cannot remain buried when a new life begins to stir within her. Lyra is pregnant. But this is no ordinary pup. It is the World Ender—a child of prophecy that drains her life force with every heartbeat. To survive the pregnancy, Lyra must do the one thing she vowed never to do again: submit to Torin’s mark. With the Rogue King Malachi hunting them and a Demon Wolf rising from the void, Lyra must choose between her pride and her life. Can she forgive the Alpha who broke her? Or will the power of the Celestial Wolf destroy them all? Tropes: #RejectedMate #SecretBaby #Amnesia #Grovel #OPHeroine #DarkRomance

My secret boyfriend, Marco Ross—the fastest rising mafia star in New York—hid a ring in our home. I thought it was for me. Instead, I received a video of him proposing to another woman—Bianco Conti —on our anniversary. The same night, masked men broke in, held me at gunpoint, and forced me to call Marco. A woman answered the call, “Marco, your little orphan is calling again.” Then Marco’s cold tone. “Don’t bother, babe, she’s just your substitute, a stray I keep around, a free woman to warm my bed.” The masked men shot me in the stomach—then fled. What Marco didn’t know? The real Conti heiress… was me. The Bianco he cherished so much… was just an imposter. I once refused to take the Conti name because of Marco, afraid it would ruin us. But if he never cared… why should I? I made one call. “Papa, I’ll come home, take over the business, and accept the marriage alliance—but Bianca has to be go.”

His right hand left his pocket and made its way to my face. He tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. He moved even closer, his face a few inches away from mine. His finger left my hair and gently drew invisible lines down my cheek. I felt a wave of electricity course through my being, my eyelids flickered shut and my lips parted slightly in anticipation. “Ingrid?” the softness in his voice made my knees tremble and when I felt his arm wrap securely around my slim waist, I leaned into him mindlessly. “Be mine.” ----------------------------------- To Ingrid nothing is more important than her job, not until Kareem stepped into that elevator and made his way into her life. She is in for the ride of a lifetime as Kareem brings with him, scandals and his vicious ex, who would go to any length to get him back, even if it means ruining Ingrid. Will Ingrid decide to take the risk and give love a chance? Or will she turn her back on what might be a ride to happily ever after?

Noel Ashford is the only child of Scott Ashford, famed law attorney of the small town of Bisbee, Arizona. Life for the two is rather simple. Until the day her father brings home a stray criminal in the form of a 6-foot devil, by the name of Harken Lewis - who makes it his everyday mission to uproot Noel's simple life and welcome her to the dangers of his. At the loss of her mother at the age of 10, Noel has depended on herself in the absence of her father, counting down the days until she can leave her small town and finally start living her life outside of her shut-in home. Harken Lewis has lived his 18 years in and out of juvie and foster homes, never knowing the meaning of a home, never allowing himself to be tied down. Shacking up with his lawyer and her daughter is meant to be a means to an end, a pit stop on his journey to greener pastures. He doesn't expect to find the one thing to shake his resolve and shatter everything he thought he knew about himself. Stick a shut-in hermit and an adrenaline junkie delinquent under the same roof, what do you get? Disaster.

A comedy of errors, that offers second chances for first love in this BDSM Mafia, Reverse Harem Romance. In that moment of embarrassment, fear and dread, I do the unthinkable…….. I jump into the black clad stranger's arms, and kiss him with all the drama of a soap opera. Yes, I meant it to be for show to avoid my stalker, but .....Let’s just say it’s not all fake when I practically swoon like the well-to-do British lady I’m impersonating. “Renfield tricked me,” I pant, pointing my shaking finger at the obnoxious blonde man, literally crying, this is all so hysterical to him. “Dracula's spell is too powerful. I can't fight it, go! Go find Van Helsing!" How did this happen? Nicky! That’s right, this is all my orphan brother, Roman Nikolai Cross’ fault! Ever since that tweedle twap jerk named me after the bad luck stray cat outside our orphanage, there is no end to the comedy of errors that is my life. I was hoping to avoid the so tragic it’s funny or so funny it’s tragic stigma with my second chance on life, but no such luck with his latest shenanigans.

While Alpha Leon danced with his assistant on the dance floor, I sipped wine with clients. To avoid offending anyone, I let his intoxicated self brush his cold hand against my thigh. Still, Leon never glanced at me. His attention was entirely on helping the assistant brush stray hair from her forehead, softly asking if she was hungry. When the banquet ended, the assistant complained of boredom, and Leon immediately whisked her away, leaving me behind for the next round of festivities. “The young shewolf’s been busy with work lately. I’m just taking her to relax. “You don’t like bars, so don’t follow us. “Also, I won’t be back tonight. We’ll postpone tomorrow’s marking to another day.” We’d been together for five years. Although he gave me the title of Luna, he never marked me. This was the ninety-ninth time Leon Gray had unilaterally canceled marking me. So, I nodded. Since he was always busy, perhaps this marking was unnecessary.

On our fifth wedding anniversary, I discovered I was two months pregnant. I wanted to surprise Owen Reed with the news. However, on my way home with the gift-wrapped ultrasound report, I got caught in a street shootout. A stray bullet tore into my abdomen. Right as I collapsed on the pavement, writhing in pain, Owen appeared out of nowhere. He had told me he was away on business and would not be home until evening, but here he was, frantically shoving through the crowd. He ran right past me and toward a woman up ahead. "I'm sorry I'm late. Don't worry, nothing's going to happen to you." His voice was soft, gentler than I had ever heard it. He swept her up in his arms and disappeared down the street, surrounded by bodyguards. He never saw me. I was barely three feet away, bleeding out on the ground. When I woke up in the hospital, my baby was gone. That was when I knew I was done with this marriage.